


A Placeholder

by kitkatbyte



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Domestic, Ficlet, Gap Filler, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-24 21:57:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16183976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatbyte/pseuds/kitkatbyte
Summary: The simplest things can take on the most powerful meanings.These little bits and pieces take place during seasons 1-4.





	A Placeholder

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of the only QaF fanfics I ever wrote. I originally posted it on my LJ in 2004.  
> Thanks to reinabelle and burnitbackwards for the beta advice!

"You loaned him your toothbrush?"  
"I have a supply."

It was true. Under the sink, Brian had a whole stockpile of new unused toothbrushes. The first time Justin had been to the loft, Brian had fucked him all night and brought him to school the next day. Just like any other trick who spent the night, he got his very own brand new toothbrush from the pile, to be thrown out after one use.

Brian remembered how the little fucker had put the toothbrush into the holder like it belonged there. He had tossed it into the garbage as soon as he discovered it, but the next time Justin stayed the night, he had done it again. The kid seemed to be clueless: each toothbrush Brian threw out, hoping the kid would get the hint, was replaced with a new one on Justin's next visit.

Then Justin came to live with Brian, and while he stayed, so did the toothbrush. In those few weeks, Brian got used to seeing it there, propped up next to his own. After he kicked Justin out, he angrily threw the toothbrush into the garbage can as soon as he noticed it again.

But Justin wasn't gone for good. Brian started fucking him again, and even asking him to come over. After a few toothbrushes had been used by Justin and disposed by Brian, Brian stopped bothering to throw them out. When Justin found his toothbrush still there, he had been an annoying little shit about it.

"I knew you loved me!" He had said through the foaming Colgate sloshing around in his mouth.

"Oh, that's yours? I've been using it to clean out my ass." 

 

Justin got hurt, and Brian spent three days in the hospital before finally coming home -- they said he needed sleep, or some bullshit like that. He noticed Justin's toothbrush when he reached for his own, and the feeling in his gut made him wince. The toothbrush stayed in the holder; the scarf stayed around his neck.

Brian saw Justin again, and when Justin came to live with him and get better, his toothbrush was no longer there. Justin got another one out from under the sink, and it stayed for a long time. 

Many months passed. At one point, the toothbrush was replaced with a new one.

When Brian came home the day after the Rage party, he immediately noticed that Justin's things were gone. Every time Brian brushed his teeth, he reached over and grabbed the only toothbrush there. It was just one of many reminders.

After Justin came back to him, the toothbrush once again became a regular fixture in the bathroom, even though Justin wasn't technically living there. Brian eventually asked him to, due to the inconvenience caused by the fact that Justin's socks were not also enjoying a static presence in the loft.

But opportunity came suddenly for Justin, and he had to go to Hollywood. Before Brian drove him to the airport, he watched Justin gather up a few random possessions from the loft and add them to his suitcase. That night the loft felt just a little bit emptier to Brian as he walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

He reached down and paused as he noticed Justin's toothbrush next to his own. Somehow he had expected it to be gone, leaving yet another gap where something used to be. He almost trashed it, but thought better of it. Justin could use it when he got back.


End file.
